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UPA 2’s Mid-term Blues – Part 5

The third issue, and this is linked to the governance issue, is that of the economic model for India. Central to this transformation are reforms. The Congress, under an external shock, started the real process of reforms in 1991 under Narasimha Rao. The BJP governments from 1998-2004, under Vajpayee, took this process forward. Since 2004, we have had very little progress on the reforms front.

The excuse for UPA 1 was that the Left hindered any real reform of the Indian economy. There cannot be any excuse for UPA 2. There is still time left for UPA 2 to unleash a full spectrum of reforms across every sector of the Indian economy. And every sector needs it. Name any sector, and you will see how it is hobbled by all sorts of archaic rules, regulations, and government controls.

Reforms will happen if the right leader takes over, and changes the governance and economic models for the country. Some dynamic chief ministers are already doing it in their states and the results are evident . But states can only do so much. For real impact, it will require the Central government of UPA 2 to wake up.